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A Midsummer Night's Dream Customer Reviews (1 - 3 of 36 Reviews)

Light, cute and fun
I have to mark points off because of the weirdness of Nick Bottom's having a wife, but I don't really mind all that much about the change of scene (although the characters might have been better named things like Lorenzo and Antonio, but I don't like to quibble over these things. Much.) Otherwise, it was all very fun. The rustic players were my favorite part. Michelle Pfeiffer was okay as Titania, but Rupert Everett was better as Oberon. Calista Flockhart was appropriately befuddled as the "painted maypole." She does appear to be tall!

The other reviewer who posted about the eyebrow-raising range of accents was right. Sheeeesh. The actress who played 'Ermia was the worst, but thankfully, the Cockney twang had sort of faded by the end of the movie.

All in all, very enjoyable.

Comical, Beautiful, and Dignified.
Along with "The Comedy of Errors," "Midsummer Night's Dream" remains one of my favorite Shakespeare comedies. Generally speaking, I don't like it when Shakespeare's plays are taken out of their time and place. But this is one case where in doing so, the beauty and dignity of the play was not marred in the least. The early 1900 Italian scenes and music seem to fit quite well. For those of you who haven't read the play, the story involves 3 subplots that Shakespeare intertwines quite well. The first is the 4 young lovers (Lysander, Demetrius, Helena, and Hermia.). Hermia's father wants her to marry Demetrius; Hermia loves Lysander; Helena loves Demetrius, but he is after Hermia. When Hermia and Lysander run away, we meet the 2nd plot. (Bottom and his actor friends.) We get to see them prepare a comedy that will be performed before the Duke Theseus. There is one element of sorrow involving Bottom's unhappy marriage. In my opinion though, this fits rather well. (A little sadness seems to prevent a comedy from becoming a farce. And in Shakespeare's hilarious "Comedy of Errors," there was the one sad element of Egeon.) The 3rd subplot involves the rift between the fairy king Oberon, and his wife Titania. Titania has stolen an Indian boy, and Oberon wants him for his servant. (A faint resemblance to a custody case?) Well, Titania refuses to hand the child over, and Oberon plots revenge. He will cast a spell on his wife that will make her fall in love with whatever she sees when she wakes up. Oberon's servant Puck runs across the actors in the woods, and Bottom will play a part (unknowingly) in Oberon's revenge. Oberon also runs across the 4 young lovers. He pities the scorned Helena and decides to interfere. He will have Puck work a spell on Demetrius to make him love Helena. But of course, since this is a comedy, things will not exactly go according to plan! But despite the mishaps, Shakespeare manages to fix everything and prepare a happy ending. Rupert Everett (Oberon), Stanley Tucci (Puck), Michelle Pfiefer (Titania), and Kevin Kline (Bottom) play their parts with a beautifully convincing style. Director Michael Hoffman is not exactly Franco Zeffirelli, but he does an excellent job in scenery, music, and keeping the content of the play in tact. (Taking a classic and putting to screen is seldom easy!) The best thing I can say about this movie is that while it is funny, it is also done with beauty, style, and dignity. It may be that this movie shows that a comedy and a farce are NOT the same thing.

I lke it
i remember seeing this a long time ago. It was so hot!

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